US student Otto Warmbier was arrested while visiting North Korea for crimes against the state.

Photo: Reuters

If you’re in to extreme travel and don’t mind taking a surprise package which might include a trip to hard labour prison for 15 years, ending in death, then read on.

North Korea’s tourism agency has launched a website offering holiday options ranging from surfing to rice planting, despite strong US warnings to avoid travel to a nation where several trips have ended in jail.

Sixteen Americans have been detained in the past decade in North Korea, including 22-year-old student Otto Warmbier who was given a long prison term for stealing a hotel propaganda banner. He was sent home in a coma in June, but died several days later.

The DPR Korea Tour website, run by the North’s National Tourism Administration, depicts the country – which is subject to many sanctions over its weapons programmes – as just another tourist destination.